Central Nervous System disorders are economically and socially devastating. For example, schizophrenia is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide with a lifetime prevalence of 0.6 to 1.3% characterized by high morbidity and mortality. Only less than 15% of people with this disability are competitively employed, whilst about 20% live independently.
Schizophrenia is generally characterized by positive symptoms (such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized behavior), negative symptoms (such as anergia), affective symptoms (such as dysphoria, hopelessness, anxiety, hostility, aggression) and/or cognitive deficits.
Typical treatment for such disorders includes drugs that affect the monanine receptor systems. For example, the primary effect of first generation antipsychotics is dopamine (D2 receptor) blockade. While these are effective in treating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, they exert modest effects on negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. Thus, despite the availability of some drugs for treating central nervous system disorders such as schizophrenia, there are many unmet needs for improved methods and compounds for treating central nervous system disorders.